Cuyahoga Safe & Lock — Attraction in Lakewood

I had three less than positive experiences, and today was by far the worst.

I went in for the first time to get a spare ignition key made for my hot rod. He took the key, went in the back for a minute, said he didn't have one. He then made a call to see if someone else knew what the key was. They did not. I asked what options I had and he said to contact the manufacturer. He went on to say "you never know there these Chinese pieces of junk come from and you probably won't be able to get a blank for it" (I am i paraphrasing here, I don't remember the exact wording, but I clearly remember the Chinese insult ... I lived in China for two years so I pick up that type of racism) I was not thrilled, but I've heard that before.

I went and did some research, was told the key blank was an ilco key. I called Cuyahoga Safe & Lock and told them I was the guy with the ignition key and that I found out that it was an ilco key and gave him the key identifier (I don't remember it any more). I asked if he has that blank. Wow, did I get attitude. He got agitated and said that it was not an ilco key, it was the mirror image of the ilco key that I mentioned, he has 30 years experience with keys and he knows what he is talking about. Whew, I asked a simple question and I get an earful. I got off the phone and was like, Okay, I'm not going back there again!

Foolishly, I went back again today. I brought in a Ford key and a house key. $14 for 4 keys. The Ford keys were $3.50 each. I rarely buy keys so I don't know if that is reasonable or not. Luckily I had the Ford with me because both keys were incorrect - wouldn't even go into the lock. I went back in right away and told him the key wouldn't even go in the lock. Given my past experience, I had already decided that I didn't want to have him remake the keys, I just wanted a refund. When I told him I wanted a refund... wow, he did not take it well. He said "Zero mistakes huh?" to which I replied "No, mistakes are fine. This isn't your first mistake with me it's your third" and went on to explain our previous interactions. It was clear that he remembered me. I told him his attitude was the problem and the way he is handling the current situation is a perfect example - he was literally in the back room yelling at me as I walking out the front door.

This reminds me a lot of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. If everything goes well, you're happy, but if you ask any questions or give any feedback...

I recently had an incredibly disappointing experience with Cuyahoga Safe and Lock. Initially, everything went smoothly. I needed new keys for my business, and the owner, Bill, was kind and helpful. He sent out a crew of two locksmiths, one of whom was deaf and communicated through his partner. Despite this, they were both professional and did an excellent job. Although the service was a bit pricey, I felt it was worth it at the time.

However, a month or two later, one of the locks started giving us trouble. Given the amount of money I spent, I called Bill to see if the issue was under warranty or if the lock was faulty. Bill assured me that he would send his team out the next day between 11 AM and 1 PM.

The following day, one of the locksmiths returned—this time, it was the deaf employee who had done an amazing job previously. I wasn’t at my business, so my employee handled the situation. According to my employee, the locksmith sprayed WD-40 on the lock and handed over an invoice for $125 without saying a word or providing any explanation.

When I called Bill to express my concern, he informed me there was a $75 service charge and an additional fee for spraying the oil—fees that he never mentioned when we spoke. I also pointed out that there had been no communication from the locksmith, making the situation very confusing for my employee. Instead of addressing my concerns, Bill started yelling at me, accusing me of being discriminatory toward his employee. I was shocked and offended by this baseless accusation, especially since my issue was with the lack of communication from the business owner, not the locksmith’s disability.

After a heated exchange, Bill finally waived the labor fee, leaving me with just the service call charge of $91. To add insult to injury, the locksmith used our own WD-40 for the job.

In summary, I’ve never left a bad review before, but I felt compelled to create an account just to share this experience. Bill’s behavior was completely unprofessional, and I will never return to this business. I would strongly caution others to think twice before hiring Cuyahoga...

It's a shame that a company that does relatively good work has to be ruined by the person that owns it. We manage apartment buildings and have been doing business with Cuyahoga for over 25 years. One day I sent my sister over to have a key copied that I was quoted around $2.25 to have made. She comes back with about $1.50 left over of the $10.00 I gave her. She tells me that the guy cutting the key(not the owner I usually deal with) told her it was more money and when she gave him the price I was quoted he told her he held my key and the new one hostage till she paid. Now usually if something is going to cost more than originally thought, the customer is supposed to be notified beforehand, so they have the opportunity to make the final decision. I guess he didn't know what the price was until after he cut it... So, naturally I called over to see what was going on. The employee, who I believe was named Mike, gets irrate with me telling me "that's what the effing price is, if I don't like it, go somewhere else". Not appreciating his attitude, I got irrate back and told him exactly how I felt. Later on that week I stopped in to make another purchase and the owner Bill throws me out of the store because I "belittled his employee" on the phone. He never asked me what happened, or what my side was. To this day Bill, the owner, has no clue what happened, only what he thinks happened. When I call and try to talk to him, he hangs up on me like a child throwing a tantrum. So my advice to anyone considering patronizing Cuyahoga Safe and Lock is don't. If you want to deal with someone that has a decent attitude and doesn't change prices halfway though the job, go to Lorain Triskett Locksmith. The ladies there do a fine job and...